Your church has the opportunity of a lifetime. The world has shifted, and a new, brighter tomorrow awaits. The Church Revitalization Checklist is a tool to help you start fresh, leverage your strengths, and discover hidden opportunities for church growth.God has placed you exactly where He wants you. But let's be honest, if you're leading a church, it isn't easy. Maybe your church has been in the doldrums for years. Maybe you're hearing a lot of complaints...

Opportunity Lies Right Down the Road.There's hope for your church. Respected church expert Sam Rainer envisions an exciting new wave of revitalized neighborhood churches that are growing and thriving. In the not-so-distant past, churches tended to relocate away from their neighborhoods and build large campuses at major intersections. At the turn of the 21st century, a dramatic shift occurred: A new generation began looking to neighborhood churches to foster life-gi...

A concise guide to the best practices in making your church safe for members and attendees of all ages.Every church should be a safe space for everyone who comes in. Every church should also be equipping people to confront the powers of darkness and help those in trouble. Unfortunately, far too many churches are unsafe internally, which leaves them unprepared to confront external dangers. An unsafe church creates a toxic environment that works against the gospel. A...

Everything you need to grasp God's big picture in Scripture so you can dive deeper into each book of the Bible.Every single word in the Bible is powerful and purposeful. But too often we can be guilty of thinking that the details of God's plan for us must be buried in obscurity somewhere in the vastness of the Bible—as if we're missing God because we missed that tiny iota subscript in the original Greek. What if it is the opposite? What if our daily purpose, our ne...

Your church has the opportunity of a lifetime. The world has shifted, and a new, brighter tomorrow awaits. The Church Revitalization Checklist is a tool to help you start fresh, leverage your strengths, and discover hidden opportunities for church growth.God has placed you exactly where He wants you. But let’s be honest, if you’re leading a church, it isn’t easy. Maybe your church has been in the doldrums for years. Maybe you’re hearing a lot of complaints, and you’re simply tired ...

An inspiring description and story showing how a church can become an irresistible influence on its neighborhood, community, and world by building bridges over troubled waters to a dying culture through showing the love of God in action.

Churchless people are all around us: among our closest loved ones, at our workplaces, in our neighborhoods. And more and more, they are becoming the norm: The number of churchless adults in the US has grown by nearly one-third in the past decade. Yet the startling truth is that many of these people claim they are looking for a genuine, powerful encounter with God—but they just don't find it in church. What are they (or we) missing? How can we better reach out to them? Wha...

Brandon O'Brien helps pastors and church leaders understand that a smaller church is sometimes better than a big one. He demonstrates the strengths of small congregations, including that today's church "shoppers" want services that are local, personal, and intimate. Also, small churches provide space to nurture close relationships across age and lifestyle barriers, and they facilitate a higher level of commitment from laypeople. And small church budgets are often more effective because of ...

Passionate about church growth, Michael Fletcher understands the obstacles pastors and church leaders face as they reach 100/200 and 700/800-member barriers. In clear language he lays out practical steps churches can follow to achieve the growth they desire. His strategies have proved effective not only in his church, which has grown dramatically, but also in the churches of Grace Churches International, a worldwide network of 315-plus churches that he leads.

All mission is local—the people of God joining the work of God in a particular place. In Starting Missional Churches Mark Lau Branson and Nicholas Warnes introduce us to seven missional churches while examining common challenges regardingtheir genesis. Using stories, interviews with pastors and a look at common preconceived notions of church planting in the West, this guide brings together resources of the missional church conversation with the creativity and energy of those who a...

A startling 85% of churches in the US are plateaued or declining, a trend that has been building for the past fifty years. In the face of shrinking attendance and lagging spiritual growth, pastors and church leaders are understandably discouraged and demoralized. But the first step to turning things around is hope. Church health expert Gary McIntosh offers this hope by showing church leaders the first things they need to do to make a new start for their church.God can and does rest...

CHRISTIANITY TODAY'S PASTORAL/CHURCH LEADERSHIP BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017“In my first seminary class, we were asked to introduce ourselves and say why we enrolled. I’ll never forget what one student said…‘My denomination wants me to have an M.Div., but once they see I can grow a big church, I don't think they'll make me finish the program.’”The priorities of this future pastor were startling, but he’s not alone in them.In the y...